


Expecting the Unexpected

by Anonymous



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Pregnancy, Consensual Ovipositon, Death of an OC, Egg Laying, Egg Laying is Pleasurable, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Hinted Asexual Pidge, Minor Character Death, Oviposition, Painful Labor, Platonic Sibling-like Relationship between Shiro and Pidge, What the hell did Pidge get herself into now?, blood mention, graphic birth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 03:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8693962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Voltron Kink Meme prompt fill:
Team Voltron come across a peaceful, non-humanoid alien. Sadly, it's dying, and it has one last wish: it wants to lay its eggs in someone's uterus so its unborn children won't die with it. That's how they always reproduce, by laying their fertilized eggs in a willing host. Pidge agrees to go through with it.
(Assume Pidge is aged up, age isn't mentioned in the actual fic)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Lord forgive me for writing this. Posted anonymously because I'm ashaaaaaaaaaamed.

(Shhh while I project my asexuality and weird fetishes onto Pidge.) 

How did she get herself into these situations?

It happened on the planet Qe’ra. After a weeklong battle, the Paladins of Voltron had managed to overthrow the Galra control for the most part. The ground skirmish they had just finished should have cleared the rest of them out.

None of the locals should have been anywhere close to this area. But there she was.

Her name was Te’la, and she was pregnant. 

Well, pregnant might not have been the right word for it, but she was carrying eggs fertilized by her mates. That was why she was there, so far from her village. She had been seeking a host. It was a quest that all of the childbearing people of her kind embarked on. Her species needed willing hosts to carry their eggs safely to term.

But her quest it seemed had been in vain. The paladins had found her wedged in a tiny rock alcove, bleeding to death. 

The poor creature was delirious with pain and fear. She waved her tentacles weakly and frantically muttered how she was a fool to have wandered so far, how she had failed her mates, and worse, failed her children. She was desperate. She wouldn’t survive a trip to the healing pods, and without a host, her eggs would die with her.

Te’la scanned the Paladins of Voltron and with her few remaining breaths, begged for the lives of her children. The eggs would do them no harm, and forever they would have the gratitude of her village. If only one of them would take them. “Please,” she’d said, her voice quiet and weak, “Mighty paladins, please save my family.”

“It would be safe,” Coran confirmed over the comms, “This process is deeply ingrained into Qe’ra culture. Harming a host is a serious offense. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, the eggs would only be compatible with the reproductive organs of...well, the biological female of your species.”

A moment of silence settled over the paladin as the implications of Coran’s words hit them. There was only one person amongst them that could do anything. 

Pidge took a deep breath, and agreed. No one else was going to lose their family to the Galra on her watch.  
________________________________________

The gravity of what she’d done didn’t really hit her until two days after the incident. 

Allura hadn’t exactly been pleased with her choice, but she respected Pidge’s decision as part of her duty as a paladin to preserve all life. Keith, typically, had been irritated by the impracticality of a grounded paladin. The others were all various shades of worried. 

Coran’s initial scans and examinations had revealed that the eggs’ gestation period would be relatively short; anywhere from two to three weeks in human time. With such a quick turn around time Allura had decided it would best to land the castle ship on the planet and lay low. She would take the opportunity to form stronger alliances with the Qe’ranins, (poor Te’la’s mates needed to be informed of the situation anyway), and help Coran maintain and repair the castle’s aging systems. 

The down time gave Pidge plenty of time to think about it. 

Honestly, she had never really stopped to think about having children before. Sure, she’d thought about it in passing, after getting ‘the talk’ from her parents, and all the sex-ed classes in school, but she’d never really considered it seriously. She’d still never had a boyfriend; or girlfriend for that matter, fuck she still hadn’t even sorted her sexuality out yet. She’d never had sex, hell, she’d never even really had the desire to. It just wasn’t as important to her as it seemed to be to the majority of people.

There’d just been so much going on in her life. Half her family disappearing under questionable circumstances had been the cherry on top. And that was before she’d jumped through a wormhole into unknown space with three other human beings and a giant mechanical lion. Having children was a decision to be made in the far off future, it was a foreign concept that didn’t exist to her yet. But now....

Carefully she stroked her hand over her stomach, passing over the tiny, barely there curve. Still easily hidden under her loose shirt, but there. A little bump.

This was happening. This was real.

She was pregnant. With alien eggs.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?  
________________________________________

Pidge chose to cope with her weird situation by mostly trying to ignore it. Whether it was because of the eggs, or because of her own body, she thankfully skipped out on nausea and ‘morning sickness’ part of pregnancy. Yes, she was hormonal, completely understandable given the situation, but she’d never let something like that get in her way before. 

She was determined to go about her normal routine as best as she could given that combat practice, piloting her lion, and climbing anywhere too tall for her to reach were all out for the next few weeks. No matter, there was always work to do; her continuing research on the Galra crystal, translating important Galra intel, and various other programs and upgrades in different stages of development to name a few. 

If she was going to be grounded, she was going to take the next few weeks off, in a sense, to work in peace. That was her plan and she was sticking to it

Her fellow shipmates however, weren’t really on board with that. 

Coran, even though he was the most familiar with Qe’ranin reproduction, was still very concerned for the wellbeing of his paladin. He insisted on taking scans and preforming examinations daily to monitor any the egg’s progress, keep an eye on Pidge’s health, catch any unpredicted changes and adjust accordingly. He joined forces with Hunk to make sure all of Pidge’s meals were packed with all the nutrients she and the eggs would need. 

Hunk’s mother hen tendencies kicked into absolute overdrive. Hunk was the one to make sure that no matter where Pidge was or what she was doing, snacks and water pouches were nearby. Hunk was the one to stop his own work and make sure Pidge took regular breaks from hers. It was even Hunk who spearheaded a movement to make sure Pidge went to her actual bed and slept at reasonable hours, roping in all the other paladins too. 

But Shiro was the one who played dirty. He knew full well that Pidge looked up to him like a big brother. He knew that she knew he would do anything to protect her, (honestly, the poor guy probably had some sort of Holt complex at this point). He knew that one simple pleading look from him could get Pidge to shut down her work for the night and go to bed. He knew that one worried comment in his best big brother tone could make her put up with Coran’s exams for a few more minutes. He knew all of this, and he exploited the hell out of it. 

Pidge herself could appreciate their efforts; really she could, but the mile long independent streak in her bristled at the coddling. Really guys here habits weren’t that bad... Hunk’s strategic snack placement was welcome though, as her appetite grew throughout the week. And as the week went on, she also started getting tired more easily than usual, and needed less and less encouragement to rest.

By the end of the first week, the little, barely there curve had grown into a small, but undeniable bump. It pushed against the fabric of her shirt, refusing to be hidden. Her pants were getting tight too, dammit it all. She was going to have to ask Allura for some looser clothes soon. 

As with everything else involving this incident, Pidge tried her best to ignore this. On this front though, she was much less successful. Her hands kept straying to the little bump involuntarily, and she often caught herself rubbing it.

By the second week however, Pidge’s patience for all the attention was growing very thin. Every time she finally got immersed in her work, one of them was there, asking about how she felt, begging her to take a break, telling her to go to bed. Keith and Allura at least usually kept their distance beyond checking in on her every so often during their ‘shifts’, but Hunk, Coran, and Shiro were really testing her limits. 

Luckily, it seemed that she did have one person in her corner; Lance.

Lance did what Lance did best. He drew attention. Hunk’s well-intentioned pleas for Pidge to take a break pushing Pidge’s fraying nerves to the breaking point? ”Hey Hunk, buddy, I think I maaay have broken the food goo nozzle just a teeeeeeny little bit.” Coran’s daily exams running over too long? “Hey Coran, what’s this thing for again? Oops.” Even Shiro himself getting too overbearing? “You just watch Keith, I can toooootally make this jump.”

Pidge had to give him credit; Lance was a lot smarter than the other paladins might think. Every time one of her faithful guardians was sent running after some apparent crisis, she made sure to give him a thankful smile. Later he confided in her that he had older sisters back home, and if he had learned only one thing from them it was that sometimes, you left the pregnant lady alone to tend to her body the way she needed to. 

The second week was also proving harder for Pidge’s ‘just ignore it’ plan. So much for getting a lot of work done, as she found herself getting tired much more often and easily than usual. In fact, in the middle of the second week, there was a slight incident on that front. Hunk had come around to Pidge’s lab for his usual check in, and found it empty, unusual for that time of day. No big deal, she was probably in the main lounge, using one of the couches instead of her computer chair. But she wasn’t there either. He tried a few other common areas, even the training rooms, but no Pidge. None of the other paladins had seen her in a while either, not even Shiro or Coran knew where she was!

That was when Hunk started to panic, his anxious mind coming up with all sorts of scenarios. What if she had gotten so sick of the attention that she had hidden in the vents somewhere? What if she was stuck or lost somewhere? What if something was happening with the eggs? What if she needed help? By this point all the other paladins were worried too. They split off in search of their missing friend; Hunk heading towards her lab to double check, Lance and Keith covering the common rooms. It was Shiro who found her in the last place anyone would think to look. In her own room, in her own bed, voluntarily taking a nap. 

Lance insisted on taking a photo before he left Pidge in peace. Documentation of a rare and strange phenomenon, he said. 

Beyond just tiredness, Pidge’s body was changing in a number of ways this week. She was certain her hips had widened, as they curved out a little more than her usual stick thin figure. She had finally been forced to ditch her normal clothes for a soft green, knee-length Altean garment that reminded her of an old fashioned nightgown. Her normal shorts refused to button anymore and her old shirt rode up constantly over her growing bump. It was getting bigger every day now, and the sudden extra weight of the eggs was playing hell with her balance and hurting her back. Pidge just thanked her lucky stars that her breasts seemed to have been left out of the equation. 

Pidge her body change with a mix of scientific curiosity, worry (what the hell had she gotten herself into?), and just a hint of excitement. A very tiny bit. She couldn’t deny the urge to touch the growing bump anymore. He hands explored every part of this strange new thing that was somehow a part of her. Sometimes she’d swear she even felt the eggs shift inside her, which was eight different kinds of weird, but also strangely comforting. 

Week two finally came to a close. Her bump, by that point, looked around the size it should have been at six months, if this had been a normal human pregnancy. She was coming up to the home stretch soon. Funnily enough, even with all their advance technology, the Alteans hadn’t quite been able to figure out her exact due date, what with humans being an alien species to them, and the fact that this was far from the normal realm of human pregnancy to begin with. Having passed to two-week mark, Pidge could be delivering any day now. And it was really starting to hit her just how scared she was to face the prospect of...birthing...these aliens.

That was the part she’d been pushing down and trying to ignore. But she wouldn’t get one day into week three before she couldn’t ignore it any longer. 

Pidge had been restless all day. She’d been dodging Coran and the other paladins all day as well because they just didn’t get it. She’d tried to lie down and rest, really she did, but she just could not stay still. 

She managed to fake it long enough to get her self-appointed guardians off to bed, and off of her back. As soon as the coast was clear though, she snuck back down to her lab. Her body had decided it didn’t want to rest? Fine. But she was going to get some work done while she waited for it to cooperate. There were plenty of hacked files full of Galra intelligence to comb through, after all. 

But as the hours ticked by, even with all her nervous energy, it became harder and harder for Pidge to focus on her work. Maybe it was something Hunk or Coran had put in her dinner, or maybe it was some quirk of carrying alien children, but her stomach was off. To be honest her stomach had been bothering her all evening-not like she’d admit that to the mother hens- but it was getting progressively worse now, with cramps not unlike the kind she’d get when her period came around, but worse. And getting worse by the hour. She rubbed her stomach irritably. 

The blinking cursor in the blank window on her computer screen taunted her. She huffed at it, and reached up to stretch. Maybe she should get a space chair with a little more support because on top of everything, her back fucking hurt and-oh. Oh. 

Suddenly the puzzle pieces clicked together in her head.

“Oh my god, I’m in labor.”

Holy shit, holy shit, oh fuck, oh my god. 

She was having contractions oh god how the fuck has she not realized. The pain across her abdomen spiked suddenly, as if in retaliation.

“Okay, okay, calm down Pidge,” she told herself, as the contraction ended, “Lets not get ahead of ourselves. We’ve got time.” She took a deep, steadying breath, and looked back to her computer screen to check the time, waiting as calmly as she could for the next contraction. 

Okay, fifteen minutes apart. She had time. 

She didn’t want to go back to her room just yet. It was illogical, she knew, but she didn’t want to move. Besides, there was so much there in her lab to help distract her from the impeding births. She still had time. 

And besides, the eggs wouldn’t be coming for at least a few more hours, right? No reason to panic. 

Her water broke at her desk not an hour later. Pidge tried not to think about how gross that would be to clean up (or worse, if Coran found the mess before she got the chance). 

As she rode out another, suddenly more intense contraction, she regretted not moving when she had the chance. But her stubbornness had gotten her into this situation, so it was up to her stubbornness to get her out. She absolutely refused to give birth in her lab. Besides, the walk from her lab to her bedroom wasn’t that far. Not a short trip, but manageable. She’d make it, easy peasy. 

Of course she wasn’t even halfway there when another contraction stopped her dead in her tracks. This one hurt more than any of the others had by a long shot. Leaning against the wall for a few seconds couldn’t hurt could it? Not like her body was giving her much of a choice.

Of course that was when she got caught. And by him of all people. Of all of the handful of people in the god-forsaken castle ship, it had to be Keith that found her leaning heavily against the wall, doing her best to breathe through an intense contraction. Of course. What the hell was he doing up at this hour anyway? 

Pidge cursed under her breath and wondered for the hundredth time why the hell she had agreed to do this again. 

Keith for his part, just stood there, ten feet in front of her, his expression flickering between confusion, concern, fear, and some odd mix of them all. Finally, as the contraction ended and Pidge started to catch her breath, he approached her, his hand extended uncertainly. 

“Here,” he said offering his hand. 

“Ah... thanks,” Pidge said shakily, taking it gratefully. Keith might not have the best bedside manner, but he was trying, and at least she wouldn’t have to brave the rest of the trek down the hallway alone. She still jumped a little when Keith’s other arm wrapped around her shoulders and she was unceremoniously pulled close to his side. A glance up at him revealed his clenched jaw, and expression of pure resolve.

He looked down at her, and his expression softened into a calmer, half-smile. “It’s gonna be alright,” he said, his voice softer than usual in a clear attempt at comforting her.

Pidge hummed in response, for once in her life at a loss for words. With Keith’s help, she started to move forward again as quickly as she could manage.

They had to stop twice during the relatively short trip, Keith holding her up and rubbing her shoulder awkwardly as Pidge leaned against him and gritted her teeth, trying to breathe through the pain. The contractions were coming even closer together now, and they seemed to last longer and longer. Things seemed to be speeding up fast-too fast. 

Finally after what felt like an eternity, they made it to Pidge’s bedroom. Keith gently eased her onto her bed. Pidge sighed and sat down, grateful that at least one part of her journey was finished 

“Hold on for just a minute Pidge,” Keith said once she was settled, “I’m going to go get help. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

“Look, you don’t have to do that. It’s okay, really, I can handle this-” but Keith was already out the door, and sprinting down the hallway. “-...on my own.....”

Whatever. He was out of the room anyway now. She pulled up a screen from a device on her wrist. No one wanted to listen to her? Fine, she just wouldn’t open the door. A few quick keystrokes and the locking mechanism clicked into place with a satisfying thunk. 

Pidge wasn’t about to let the others see her like this, it would honestly be mortifying. She had gotten herself into this situation, she would get herself out. Besides, women had been doing this sort of thing on their own for centuries. Well, maybe not this exactly, but still! She could do this all by herself. She wasn’t scared. 

That’s what she told herself at least, but as she rode out a contraction, a sudden longing for her mother hit her. She felt her eyes well with tears before she shook them off. If she ever made it back home, there was no way she’d tell her mom about this little incident. She was fine. She could do this on her own.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a sharp knock to her door. 

“Number Five, it’s Coran, please open the door. I believe my assistance could be very helpful.” 

“Go away!” Pidge snapped, “I can handle this.”

She could hear some kind of shuffling outside her door, a few more voices speaking to Coran in hushed tones.

Allura’s commanding voice said, “Pidge, it is in your best interest to open this door immediately. Coran can help you-”

“I don’t need your help, just leave me alone!” Pidge shouted back. 

Another few moments of shuffling, and then...

“Katie?” A deep voice called softly. Shiro’s voice.

And just like that her resolve crumbled.

“Shiro?” She called back, her voice wavering ever so slightly.

“I know you’re hurting, and I know you’re scared. You don’t have to do this alone. We’re here for you Katie. We’ll be here for you no matter what, you realize that don’t you? Please let us in.” 

Dammit, the tears were back. Get it together Pidge. 

“A-Alright, just...hold on a second,” she said, pulling up her screen again. Halfway through punching in the code, she stopped. “Wait. If I open this door...just...Shiro is the only one allowed in.”

She could hear him starting to argue, but she cut him off, “Just you alright? If something goes wrong I’ll let Coran and Allura in, I promise. But I don’t...I don’t”-want to be seen like this, I don’t want an audience, but I don’t want to do this alone, I just want you, you’re the only one I feel safe enough with- “...Please, Shiro.”

There was a long pause on the other side of the door, a faint, hissed argument of some kind that Pidge could almost make out. But then another contraction rocked her and taken off guard, she let out a surprised cry of pain. 

“Alright, ok Pidge,” Shiro said, a hint of panic creeping into his voice, “Just me, I promise.” As soon as she could think straight again, Pidge unlocked the door.

As promised, only Shiro entered the room. A few towels were tucked under one arm, and in his hands was a large basket, barely visible under a larger blanket.

“Hey,” he said easily, gently placing his burden beside the bed.

“Hey,” Pidge replied, giving him a wry, shaky half-grin. “You can sit here, if you want,” she said after a few beats of silence, patting the space beside her.

“Alright,” he replied, just as easily as before. He sat on her left side, and after a few more beats of awkward silence, offered her his organic hand. That simple gesture broke a dam somewhere in Pidge, and she seized it tightly, letting out a shaky breath and something that was most definitely not a sob. 

For the next half hour they sat like that on the edge of her bed. Shiro gave Pidge the distance she wanted without ever letting her think she was alone in this. He rubbed slow circles on the back of her hand with his thumb as she squeezed his hand, doing her best to breathe through more and more frequent contractions.

Pidge ended up pressing the knuckles of her free hand against her mouth; the contractions were getting worse, but she didn’t want to make noise in front of him. She wasn’t weak, she could handle it. 

Shiro, as usual, saw right through her. He told her as gently as possible that she didn’t need to worry about things like that, he would never judge her. Keeping those sounds in was probably hurting more than helping (something he himself had personal experience with). Pidge never screamed like women in dramatic earth TV shows, but she did finally allow herself to groan, gasp, and even whine when she needed to. Shiro’s calm voice reassured her every time. 

Finally, she was hit with a sudden instinctual need to push. “Oh god, I think it’s time” she groaned.

Like hell was she going to deliver lying down. Gravity was a laboring woman’s friend. She waited until the last contraction ended, then slowly eased herself off of the edge of her bed and down into a low squat. Shiro handed her a towel, which she placed, still folded, on the floor between her legs. Her task done, she reached back to cling to the mattress with one hand and braced her other arm on her thigh. Her legs were already trembling with anticipation. 

“Here,” Shiro said, kneeling on the floor beside her. “I can brace you if that’s what you need. Just let me get behind you.”

Pidge nodded her assent and reluctantly let go of the mattress to scootch forward a few inches. Shiro filled the new gap as quickly as he could, sat between Pidge and the bed, and let her lean back against his chest. He carefully reached around her waist to support her with his prosthetic arm. His organic hand was again offered to her, and she eagerly reclaimed it, gripping the warm fingers tightly.

“Don’t watch this, please,” Pidge begged, her face red with embarrassment. “I’ll tell you if something is wrong, I promise.”

Almost as soon as they’d settled, the urge to push came again, and this time Pidge didn’t fight it. She clenched Shiro’s hand, took a deep breath, and bore down with all her strength.

The contraction passed and she gasped for breath. No progress. The next two contractions passed just as unfruitfully until finally, as the pain spiked again and again she pushed, straining unfamiliar muscles, until she felt the egg inside her inch further down. 

One more push and suddenly it was crowning, she could feel it. Her breath hitched as her body tensed on instinct. Oh god-

“Breathe, Pidge,” Shiro encouraged, “Keep going, you’ve got this.”

Pidge clenched her fist, squeezed Shiro’s hand, took a few deep breaths, and pushed again. And then something strange happened. The egg suddenly slid out all at once with a slick sounding pop, and an unexpected rush of something blindsided her. All of a sudden all of her senses vanished under an overwhelmingly amazing feeling. Her groan of pain morphed into a moan of pleasure, and she threw her head back in ecstasy. 

It was only moments later, as her senses came back to her that she realized what she’d done. “Oh god’ she whined, she’d just made that sound. She’d just made that sound in front of Shiro. “Oh my god,” she slapped her free hand over her eyes. On top of everything else, she had to embarrass herself like that in front of Shiro.

“It’s alright Pidge,” Shiro said, his voice just as calm and steady as ever. How the hell did he manage that? (His ears were burning red, but thankfully Pidge couldn’t see that). “It’s okay. You’re doing just fine.”

Maybe she would have said something else, apologized or explained or said anything else, but another contraction stole her breath away. This wasn’t over yet, not by a long shot. Why had she agreed to do this again?

The second egg came much easier than the first. Now that she was expecting it, Pidge managed to bite her lip to smother any sounds of...pleasure...she made as the overwhelming feeling washed over her again. God she hoped that none of the other paladins were close enough to hear her. If Lance or Hunk caught wind of it, she’d never live it down. 

The third egg apparently didn’t to want to come as quickly as the others, giving her a short break of sorts. It was only then that she thought to actually look at the eggs. She’d been avoiding looking down as much as possible, but her curiosity quickly outweighed her discomfort. 

They were slightly smaller than her fist, oval shaped, and pale blue in color. Just sitting there innocently on the towel as if they weren’t the weirdest things to ever happen to Pidge in her entire life. Including jumping through a wormhole in a giant, blue, mechanical cat.

A contraction reminded her that those two wouldn’t be the only eggs she’d...produce today (she refused to think about herself laying eggs, absolutely refused). The towel below her was already looking a bit crowded. She let go of Shiro’s hand and reached for the basket and blanket he’d brought with him. Her poor short arms couldn’t quite close the distance. Shiro had to grab it for her, tall son of bitch that he was. 

As she took it from him, her mind conjured up the image of an Easter basket before she could stop it. She dragged a hand down her face. Why the hell had she agree to this again?

Actually touching the eggs was the next challenge, but she’d come this far, and there was no stopping now. Pidge reached down and gingerly gripped one with her fingertips. Oh god, it was still warm, this was so gross. 

The start of a contraction and the urge to push again galvanized her into action, and she settled the eggs as gently as she could before she had to brace herself again.

She got over touching the eggs pretty quickly when eggs number three, four and five came in rapid succession. It looked like she wouldn’t be getting another break anytime soon. 

Pidge was running out of stamina by the eighth egg. Those brief moments of pleasure balanced out the pain pretty well, but her body was still getting more and more tired with each egg. Just how many weird blue alien eggs was she carrying? Surely there couldn’t be that many more, her bump wasn’t that big. She pressed back against Shiro, squeezing her eyes shut and whimpering as the contractions kept coming. 

Egg number ten was where they ran into a problem. Pidge was dutifully pushing along with the contractions, but this egg didn’t seem to want to come. Minutes passed with no progress, and the constant effort with no results was wearing her out. Why wouldn’t this one just come already?

Shiro did his best to comfort her, but she was working herself into a panic. “Pidge, we need to get Coran now,” he said firmly. 

“No,” she replied too quickly, “Just give me a few more- ah!- minutes!” 

Shiro wasn’t happy, but he gave in almost immediately when she turned her tear-filled eyes on him. “Alright,” he conceded, “but you’re going to have to try and calm down. I know its hard, but panicking will only make things worse.”

“I know!” Pidge snapped back, but she did try to regulate her breathing. Behind her, she could feel Shiro taking slow, deep breaths, and she tried her best to match him. 

Finally she felt the egg shift lower inside her. She let out little victory whoop, but she knew it wasn’t over yet. A few more tough pushes and it was finally crowning. This one was bigger than the others, she could feel it. She squeezed Shiro’s hand as hard as she could, and pushed one more time. And just like that, the egg finally popped free.

The overwhelming feeling was even more pleasurable than ever this time, and she couldn’t stop herself from crying out. Finally, she was granted another reprieve to catch her breath. She leaned heavily into Shiro, who was saying something reassuring in an even tone, though she could feel the tension in his body. 

“I’m alright,” she said tiredly, “that one”-she huffed-”that one was just being a bitch about this.”

Hearing her curse in her usual blunt way got a surprised laugh out of Shiro. He rubbed her hand again “You’re doing so well. It should be over soon.”

Please let it be over soon, Pidge thought. 

She reached down to pick up the trouble egg before the contractions started up again. She was right, this one was noticeably bigger than the others, slightly bigger than her fist. Pidge just hoped there would be no more surprises with this delivery, for the sake of her exhausted body if nothing else.

Thankfully, it looked like egg number ten had been the most difficult one, as eggs eleven through fourteen came relatively quickly and easily. 

Finally, Pidge got to egg number fifteen. Fucking fifteen. And something about this egg felt final. Instead of a rush of intense pleasure, a warm, satisfied feeling settled over her. Muscles she hadn’t even known she was using relaxed. The warm feeling settled into those muscles, and she found that she wasn’t hurting anymore, wasn’t sore at all. Just tired. Very, very, tired. Pidge sighed thankfully, and after placing the final egg in the basket, she sunk back against Shiro’s chest and stretched her legs out in front of her, feeling boneless. Her head turned to rest in the crook of his neck. 

“I think that’s it,” she murmured, “I’m done, it’s over.” Fifteen eggs. Fifteen fucking eggs, but it was finally over. 

“You did it Pidge,” Shiro said warmly. His organic hand, freed from Pidge’s vice-like grip, reached up to stroke her hair. “You did such a good job.”

Pidge snorted, the mixed feelings of joy, embarrassment, and exhaustion had her feeling a little giddy. “Let’s never speak of this again, okay?”

Shiro chose not to respond to that (though he silently agreed). Instead he let Pidge rest against him for a long minute, before he roused her again. “Come on now, you have to let Coran check you over one more time. Just to make sure everything is alright.” 

Pidge made a muffled irritated sound. Under no circumstances did she want to move.  
“One quick check-up and then you can rest, I promise,” Shiro reassured. Pidge sighed deeply, but nodded her head, too tired to argue.

And so Coran was finally allowed in. The poor man looked ready to have a fit, his normally perfectly coiffed hair and mustache stuck out at odd angles as if he’d been pulling at his hair. He fussed as he poked and prodded, fretting about something or other, but Pidge wasn’t really listening. Instead she kept her eyes on the fifteen little eggs crowding the basket, looking over them with a strange mix of satisfaction, worry, and an odd sort of affection. She’d done it. 

She kept her eyes on those strange alien eggs as she was lifted from the floor to the bed. She kept her eyes on them until she couldn’t keep them open any longer.  
_______________________________________

She slept for most of the day afterwards. When she finally woke, she was sore, but not as sore as she expected to be. Maybe whatever it was that made pushing the eggs out feel so good had something to do with that. Whatever it was she was grateful for it.

Coran, still wound up from the deliver he wasn’t allowed to help with, enforced a strict bed rest policy for another day after that. Pidge spent her time trying to fend off Hunk’s relieved tears, Lance’s loud claims of uncle-hood over the eggs, and Keith’s slightly awkward attempts at well-wishes. Shiro kept his distance from his rowdy teammates, but stood in the doorway smiling over them all. 

Finally the day came. It was time for Pidge to return the eggs to Te’la’s mates. Even though she’d only had them for less than three weeks, she felt a bit sad to give them up. The rational part of her brain reminded her that she wasn’t even ready to take care of one earth child, much less fifteen alien children. 

The whole village was watching when she came out of the ship, clad once again in her armor, the basket held tightly in her arms. Her fellow paladins flanked her on either side. Te’la’s mates, four long tentacled, brightly colored Qe’ranins stood at the front of the crowd in a half circle. 

Pidge cleared her throat and squared her shoulders, remembering the Qe’ranin diplomacy crash course Allura had given her “First, let me apologies. I, the Green Paladin of Voltron, was unable to save Te’la’s life, and for that I am deeply sorry. I hope that by honoring her last wish, and bearing her eggs, I can bring some peace and closure to you all.” She knelt down to one knee, imitating as close as she could a Qe’ranin of respect, and held the basket out in front of her. 

The largest of the four, a reddish Qe’ranin with very long tentacles approached her. She tensed on instinct, but to her surprise he mirrored her gestured and kneeled. “I, Tak’re, accept your apology. In return I offer you the gratitude of myself and my family.” 

His dominant tentacles wrapped around the basket handle. Once she was sure the basket was secure, Pidge released it. She watched as the Qe’ranin placed the basket in the center of the semi circle. Te’la’s other mates joined tentacles and closed in around it, each taking a few eggs out of the basket and placing them on the ground. 

Tak’re stood, gesturing for Pidge to stand as well. “Come, Green Paladin,” he said, “There is something we wish to show you.” 

He joined his fellow mates in the circle, beckoning Pidge to follow him. He took the tentacle of one of his fellow mates, and then took Pidge’s hand. Another Qe’ranin took her other hand, closing the circle. 

As one, they sat. The Qe’ranins closed their eyes, and a strange glow began to emanate from them. The light danced around the circle for a long minute, before flowing over the eggs. They were transferring some of their quintessence to the eggs, Pidge realized. She watched, as the eggs slowly grew in front of her eyes until-

One of them moved. A second later the others had joined it. Pidge watched in awe as right in front of her eyes, the eggs started hatching.

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there, sitting on the hard Qe’ra ground. It could have been minutes or hours for all she cared. She watched the eggs she’d carried hatch one by one, and little, short tentacled Qe’ranin infants emerged from their shells. She could feel the sorrow and joy of Te’la’s mates, the pain of the loss of one so dear, mixed with the wonder of new life. 

Behind her, a village elder was promising Allura that the people of Qe’ra would not forget this act of kindness. The Paladin’s of Voltron would always be welcomed, the Green Paladin would hold special honor forever. Pidge wasn’t sure that this incident was something she wanted to be remembered, but if it helped the Voltron alliance, there was no helping it. 

Besides, sitting there surrounded by the grieving, but newly hopeful mates and Te’la’s newborn children, Pidge remembered why she had agreed to do it in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> So how many other people out there have this weird kink?


End file.
